Morarji Desai Quotations

From this it follows that con-sideration for other persons or for other living beings is very vital for goodness and want of consideration for other people makes human beings selfish, regardless for other people's good.

I do not say that one who is vegetarian is full of compassion and one who is not, is otherwise. We sometimes find people, who are vegetarians, are very bad people.

You are quite correct in saying that I banned the export of monkeys on a humanitarian basis and not because the number was lessening. I believe in preventing cruelty to all living beings in any form.

Society at present suffers far more from waste of money than from want of it. There is dignity in every attempt to economise. It indicates self-denial and imparts strength of character. It produces a well-regulated mind.

I would, therefore, say that for no reason whatsoever, except in self-defence, should one think of killing any animal.

One can't be kind to one person and cruel to another.

Therefore, vegetarianism alone can give us the quality of com-passion, which distinguishes man from the rest of the animal world.

One has got to choose between the two evils, also between the lesser of the two evils in the matter of food, and therefore vegetarian food has got to he taken by man in order to sustain human life.

As a matter of fact more land is required for feeding animals which are required for eating; but this again is a controversial point.

In the early ages, I believe not much thought was given to what man is and what his real functions should be, and what is the real purpose of his life.